A method for suspending and resuming a connection for desktop virtualization between two computing devices. In response to a client computing device shutting down, suspending, hibernating, or losing network connectivity during virtualization, the server computing device may itself shut down, suspend, or hibernate, or may pause or suspend the operation of one or more applications currently hosted by the server computing device. The server may detect that connectivity has been restored and resume operation of hosted applications. Alternatively, the client may transmit a command to the server indicating that the client is ready to resume virtualization. The client may also be configured to transmit a command that may cause the server to resume a powered-on state after the server was shut down or in a state of hibernation.